2013 FDH MLB All-Stars

By Rick Morris

Here are our picks for the 2013 MLB All-Star Game.  Players in parentheses are the ones who would be selected if the one-player-per-team dictate was enforced – and the players listed next to them would be dropped.

AL Starters

C Joe Mauer, Twins

1B Chris Davis, Orioles

2B Robinson Cano, Yankees

SS J.J. Hardy, Orioles

3B Miguel Cabrera, Tigers

OF Mike Trout, Angels

OF Adam Jones, Orioles

OF Nelson Cruz, Rangers

DH David Ortiz, Red Sox

RHP Max Scherzer, Tigers

AL Pitchers

RHP Felix Hernandez, Mariners

RHP Clay Buchholz, Red Sox

LHP Brett Cecil, Blue Jays

RHP Hiroki Kuroda, Yankees

RHP Anibal Sanchez, Tigers

LHP Chris Sale, White Sox

RHP Mariano Rivera, Yankees

RHP Bartolo Colon, Athletics

RHP Yu Darvish, Rangers

RHP Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners

RHP Jesse Crain, White Sox

RHP Joe Nathan, Rangers

LHP Glen Perkins, Twins

AL Reserves

3B Adrian Beltre, Rangers

1B Prince Fielder, Tigers

SS Jhonny Peralta, Tigers

3B Josh Donaldson, As

2B Howie Kendrick, Angels

OF Daniel Nava, Red Sox

C Carlos Santana, Indians (Jason Castro, Astros)

1B Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays

OF Jose Bautista, Blue Jays

2B Jason Kipnis, Indians

3B Manny Machado, Orioles

3B Evan Longoria, Rays (C Salvador Perez, Royals)

NL Starters

C Yadier Molina, Cardinals

1B Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks

2B Chase Utley, Phillies

SS Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies

3B David Wright, Mets

OF Domonic Brown, Phillies

OF Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies

OF OF Carlos Gomez, Brewers

RHP Matt Harvey, Mets

NL Pitchers

LHP Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers

LHP Patrick Corbin, Diamondbacks

RHP Adam Wainwright, Cardinals

RHP Jason Grilli, Pirates

RHP Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals

RHP Craig Kimbrel, Braves

RHP Stephen Strasburg, Nationals

LHP Travis Wood, Cubs

RHP Jose Fernandez, Marlins

LHP Cliff Lee, Phillies

LHP Jeff Locke, Pirates

LHP Madison Bumgarner, Giants

RHP Shelby Miller, Cardinals (RHP Eric Stults, Padres)

NL Reserves

OF Andrew McCutchen, Pirates

OF Michael Cuddyer, Rockies

C Buster Posey, Giants

OF Jay Bruce, Reds

OF Carlos Beltran, Cardinals

3B Matt Carpenter (SS Everth Cabrera, Padres)

SS Ian Desmond, Nationals

1B Allen Craig, Cardinals

1B Joey Votto, Reds

OF Bryce Harper, Nationals

SS Jean Segura, Brewers

2B Brandon Phillips, Reds

OF Yasiel Puig, Dodgers

Of course Yasiel Puig is an All-Star

By Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)

How is this even a debate?  Yasiel Puig has done things that virtually nobody has done in the history of baseball through one month of play.  Only Earle Combs, a forgotten great Yankee in the 1920s  (in 1927, for example, Combs led the league in both hits (with 231) and triples (23) while hitting .356 for perhaps the greatest team ever on his way to a 12-season lifetime .325 average), had, like Puig, 44 hits in his first 100 major league at-bats.  Only a guy named Joe DiMaggio had more hits (50) in his first 27 big-league games than Puig (47).

His numbers across the board are video game numbers.  Batting average (.443), on-base percentage (.473; nobody walks off the Island), slugging percentage (.745, eight home runs in 27 games), OPS (an amazing 1.218).  Plus, if you understand the importance of the bunt (most don’t), this guy has already shown the ability to push a bunt past the pitcher or drop one down the third base line.

A FIVE-TOOL PLAYER

It’s rare that these guys exist in today’s game.  But Puig can hit, hit with power, run, field and has a howitzer for an arm.  There’s nothing he can’t do on a baseball field.

Maybe, arguably equally or even more important, he has brought an incredible “energy” to the team, according to manager Don Mattingly.  Writers and regulars at the ballpark talk about how, before Puig came up and the Dodgers were languishing in last place in the NL West, the Dodgers were a listless team, going through the motions, with no life on the field or in the stands.

Yasiel Puig has changed all of that.

SO, WHAT’S THE KNOCK?

Well, you know the knock.  He hasn’t played long enough.  He hasn’t done it over a long period of time.  Jonathan Papelbon who, of course, should just shut up and pitch, has said that “it’s a joke” that Puig should be on the All-Star team.

More important, Bruce Bochy, this year’s All-Star manager, said, on June 26, “Generally, guys that go to the All-Star game are guys that have a great first half, not a great three weeks.  If you ask me a week from now, I may say I’ve changed my mind.”

Well, Bruce Bochy is a wildly successful manager with a brain.  Hopefully someone will ask him that question and, a week later, he will see the obvious light.

THE QUESTION ISN’T WHETHER PUIG SHOULD BE ON THE ALL-STAR TEAM, THE QUESTION IS WHETHER HE SHOULD START

The answer to both is yes, even though it’s unlikely he will be voted in by the fans.  Bochy has also expressed reservations about picking Puig over a veteran player who has had a very good (but certainly not Puig-like), first half.  Well, everybody knows there are always a number of defections due to injury or whatever for both squads.  Or maybe the Commissioner, who presumably has a brain, will just allow one additional player to allay Bochy’s fears.

If you look at the game as a mere exhibition, Yasiel Puig is already the one player that everyone wants to see.  A mysterious Cuban defector, very few baseball fans knew much about him before he was called up.  Here’s the chance to give the All-Star game what Bud Selig has tried to give it for years – some juice.

If you look at the All-Star game as an incredibly meaningful game because the winner gets home field advantage in the World Series (a beyond stupid idea in and of itself), well, if you actually want to WIN the game, can you name three guys in the outfield better than Puig?

Of course you can’t.

THIS DECISION IS VIRTUALLY A NO-BRAINER

While even Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly (whose job many believe has been saved by Puig, now that the Dodgers are 9-1 last 10 and have stormed into a division race that, amazingly, they were written off from after April and May) and some Dodger teammates expressed reservations after only two weeks, now, with a 27 game sample and video game numbers, the decision is virtually a no-brainer.

Let’s hope major league baseball has a brain.

HERE’S THE REAL QUESTION

The question isn’t whether Yasiel Puig should be an All-Star.

Of course he should be.

The question isn’t whether Yasiel Puig should be the Rookie of the Year.

He’s well on his way to that, barring injury or total collapse.

The question is whether Yasiel Puig should be the NL MVP.

And THAT’S the question we have to wait a few months to have answered.

Hopefully, the powers-that-be don’t screw this one up.

Happy Independence Day

By Rick Morris

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FDH Top 32 players in NFL

By Rick Morris

NOTE: These players are ranked based not merely on how they have produced this year, but also the past year or two.  These are not fantasy rankings, but are based on overall play.  Numbers in parentheses indicate where the players ranked on our 2012 rankings, with the ones who fell out of those rankings listed at the bottom.

TOP TIER

1 Adrian Peterson (28)

2 Aaron Rodgers (1)   

3 Calvin Johnson (3)

4 Peyton Manning (NA)

5 Von Miller (27)

6 JJ Watt (NA)

7 Drew Brees (5)

8 Geno Atkins (NA)

9 Cameron Wake (NA)

10 Darrelle Revis (7)

11 Tom Brady (2)

12 DeMarcus Ware (4)

13 Joe Flacco (NA)

14 Arian Foster (20)

15 Patrick Willis (11)

16 Richard Sherman (NA)

17 Ray Rice (22)

18 AJ Green (NA)

19 Roddy White (21)

20 Jamaal Charles (NA)

21 Julio Jones (NA)

22 Earl Thomas (NA)

23 Jason Pierre-Paul (6)

24 Joe Staley (NA)

25 Clay Matthews (32)

SECOND TIER

26 Ben Roethlisberger (18)

27 Eli Manning (12)

28 Chris Johnson (25)

29 Rob Gronkowski (9)

30 Andrew Luck (NA)

31 Colin Kaepernick (NA)

32 Russell Wilson (NA)

Jared Allen (8)

Larry Fitzgerald (10)

Julius Peppers (13)

Andre Johnson (14)

Matt Stafford (15)

Troy Polamalu (16)

Jimmy Graham (17)

LeSean McCoy (19)

Maurice Jones-Drew (23)

Nick Mangold (25)

Dwight Freeney (26)

Eric Weddle (29)

Mike Wallace (30)

Vince Wilfork (31)

MLB power rankings for start of July

By Rick Morris

NOTE: Mid-June rankings are in parentheses.

TOP TIER

1 Pittsburgh (5)

2 Boston (4)

3 Texas (8)

4 Oakland (2)

5 Atlanta (7)

6 Baltimore (6)

7 St. Louis (1)

8 Cincinnati (3)

SECOND TIER

9 Tampa Bay (12)

10 Cleveland (19)

11 Detroit (9)

12 Washington (16)

13 Toronto (20)

14 Colorado (14)

15 Arizona (10)

16 NY Yankees (11)

17 San Diego (15)

18 LA Angels (21)

19 Philadelphia (17)

20 LA Dodgers (22)

21 San Francisco (13)

22 Kansas City (18)

23 Minnesota (24)

24 Seattle (23)

25 Chicago Cubs (27)

26 NY Mets (28)

27 Milwaukee (26)

28 Chicago White Sox (25)

THIRD TIER

29 Miami (30)

30 Houston (29)

BIGGEST RISERS: Cleveland (9 spots), Toronto (7 spots), Texas (5 spots), Pittsburgh and Washington (4 spots), LA Angels and Tampa Bay (3 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: San Francisco (8 spots), St. Louis (6 spots), Kansas City (4 spots), Arizona, Cincinnati and New York Yankees (5 spots), Chicago White Sox (3 spots)

RANKINGS BY DIVISION – AVERAGE PER TEAM OF 1 POINT PER RANKING SPOT, LOWEST SCORE IS BEST

1 AL EAST 46

2 NL CENTRAL 68

3 AL WEST 79

4 AL CENTRAL 81

5 NL WEST 87

6 NL EAST 91

RANKINGS PER LEAGUE

1 AL 206

2 NL 244